GE Telligence™ System Overview
Telligence™, the 1
stand only nurse call platform
designed and delivered in the 21
stcentury
and the first to incorporate Voice-over-IP (VoIP), represents the latest in healthcare
communication technology.
Unveiled by GE in February 2006 at the annual HIMSS Conference, Telligence incorporates
groundbreaking capabilities never before seen in traditional nurse call systems. Some of the
unique features that differentiate Telligence from other nurse call systems include:
! CAT 5/5e/6 Cable Plan – Other systems claim CAT5, but Telligence delivers. All components in this advanced system use CAT5/6 cable with convenient RJ45 connectors. This standard cable plan can be easily installed by the EC or the low-voltage contractor at the facility’s discretion, offering potential cost savings.
! Configurable Station Buttons – Unlike other systems, Telligence lets facilities decide how patient stations and peripheral call stations should be configured, i.e. what calls should be available from selected areas. Choice™ Programmable Technology offers unrivaled flexibility as your different care areas are configured. Telligence allows each to meet its own unique needs. The images below demonstrate the exclusive button labeling solution offered by Telligence on both patient stations and remote stations. This also reduces the parts inventory required since the electronics in the devices are virtually identical – only the labels need to be changed when a station is swapped out. Facilities can even make their own custom labels.
Single Patient Station without 37-pin BedConnect™
Sample Button Labeling Strips
! Patient Station Receptacles – In addition to GE’s reliable DuraPin™ pillow speaker connector, Telligence stations offer receptacles for call cords, patient monitor equipment and 37-pin bed cables (optional) – all on the same station. This will help to lower
construction costs through reduced backbox and conduit requirements, and also add a new level of convenience knowing that all connections are made at the same device location. The two ¼” phono jacks are configurable by the user to be for either call cords (latching) or equipment alarms (non-latching) calls. These inputs can also be used for specialized call cords such as “sip and puff”, oxygen call cords, etc.
! Product Life Cycle – As highlighted in the first paragraph of this document, Telligence
is the first and only nurse call system – from any manufacturer – designed and
delivered in the 21st century! As a result, Telligence is in the early stages of its life cycle
and offers an excellent platform for long-term implementation. Until Telligence, no U.S. companies had introduced new systems in many years and their legacy systems are certainly in their “mature” stages – it is doubtful that much new development will be done to enhance these older platforms.
If your facility is making a nurse call system decision in the near future, it is a decision that will affect your staff and patients for a minimum of 10 years, and likely much longer. Consequently, selecting a system like Telligence that is early in its life cycle with growth and enhancement potential, not a downward slope like most of its competitors, is critically important.
! Backbox Requirements – Telligence uses standard 2 ½” deep backboxes rather than 3 ½” masonry backboxes. The 2 ½” backboxes are readily available and less expensive than the 3 ½” boxes, again with the idea of reducing installation costs.
Dual Patient Station with 2 DuraPin Pillow Speaker receptacles, 2 configurable aux/call cord jacks, and
! Configurable LED Dome Lights – Other systems may have LED dome lights, but Telligence adds an exclusive level of flexibility in its new Infinity™ Dome/Zone Light. Each and every section of the Infinity lights can display any of 7 colors. The photos below show some common uses. For example, a normal bed call might be annunciated through a single section white light, red could be for emergency, green for staff assist, and a single blue for monitor alarm. However, Code Blue and other sentinel events could be clearly and visibly displayed by flashing all of the section in the same color. In addition to colors, the lights can be configured to flash in various patterns. The obvious benefit of this capability is that you can decide how calls are displayed – whatever makes sense! You can even have the Infinity lights match your existing system(s), whether they’re Dukane or some other brand. This can dramatically reduce time and expense when training staff on the new system!
! Software Applications – GE is extremely customer-focused and uses technology migration to protect customers’ previous investment in our systems. Telligence continues this design philosophy by providing software that maintains compatibility with your legacy Dukane ProCare systems as well as your new Telligence platform. All of the applications can share data through a common database and interface “engine”. This software interface
application has the ability to turn your facility into one large integrated communication platform for interfacing with wireless devices, generating management reports, and other efficiency and quality tools.
GE’s nurse call software interface “engine”, PC Connect, offers customers a flexible suite of applications providing the following:
o Management Reports – PC Reporting (ARMSip), GE’s latest management reporting
application, provides browser access from any hospital PC. Unlike previous ARMS software where everything was done from a central computer, ARMSip uses your network to turn every workstation into a reporting station. Now managers can log in from their own offices, access the software and run comprehensive reports by simply following a step-by-step wizard. ARMSip can also be configured to run reports automatically and deliver them to “subscribers” via email. This robust SQL database is designed to reliably store and archive data for years, and is compatible with both ProCare 6000 and Telligence. It even allows you to implement one reporting system to manage all Dukane/GE nurse call systems in your facility.
o Mobility Suite – supports interface connectivity to wireless systems like pocket pagers, wireless telephones (e.g. SpectraLink, Ascom, Cisco), and Vocera so patient calls can be immediately delivered to one or more assigned caregiver, or even teams like Code Blue. Whenever a button is pushed, staff can be immediately notified – wherever they are! o PC Assignments – this client application turns any hospital workstation into a nurse call
management station, allowing staff to establish assignments so patient calls will be delivered to the correct caregiver(s) – immediately and automatically!
o PC Messaging – a browser-based messaging screen that allows any PC on the network to send messages to wireless devices like pagers, phones, etc. This can be an extremely valuable tool as staff communicate with each other. It also assists with noise reduction since overhead paging can be virtually eliminated.
o NetBoard™ - an electronic whiteboard that can replace your existing manual greaseboards, NetBoard gathers and displays real-time room status information, staff assignments, attending MD, etc. This client can be installed on one or more PC per nursing unit.
o MapView and ListView Call Answering Clients – Users have different preferences, so Telligence now offers staff the option of viewing call activity on a floorplan or in a list, whichever is easier for the particular user to navigate. Telligence leaves the choice up to the staff.
! Reduced Central Equipment – Telligence has taken a new and innovative approach to central equipment. Instead of using significant wall space in your communication closets like other nurse call system (including ProCare 6000!), Telligence central equipment is fully rack-mountable. Components taking up only 3 Rack Mount Units (RMUs) can support up to 32 rooms or 80 Telligence devices – and this includes power supplies!
! Voice-over-IP Core with Full-Duplex Audio and HearingAid™ Enhancements –
Telligence has taken nurse call audio communication technology to new heights, incorporating innovative intercom circuitry and controls to provide the clearest possible conversations between patients and staff.
o Voice-over-IP – The emergence of VoIP technology arrived at the time when
Telligence was in its early design stage, and GE engineers realized the potential it offered. It has been incorporated at the Staff Console, ColorTouch™
Annunciator, and other key components of the system, providing a platform that can grow and evolve as a facility’s needs change. VoIP is the latest in digital
o Full-Duplex Intercom – Unlike many other nurse call systems, Telligence offers
full duplex, meaning it responds much more like a telephone and will not cut off the first or last words of conversations. With Telligence, both participants of a conversation can speak and be heard at the same time, providing the enhanced level of communication that caregivers require.
o HearingAid™ Audio Controls – GE engineers have incorporated all of the
latest in intercom technology and added intuitive user interfaces to make it all work seamlessly together. For example, knowing that patients have different abilities to speak up and be heard, Telligence allows staff to adjust talk and listen volume levels for each patient room conversation so both parties can hear each other clearly. In addition to manual volume controls, Telligence has automatic capabilities built in as well. Similar to noise-canceling headphones commonly worn by frequent travelers on airplanes or trains, Telligence incorporates
automatic noise and echo cancellation technology. This unique feature “cancels” non-essential noise from the rooms and nurse station to provide crystal clear voice communication with as little background noise as possible.
! Telligence Availability – The delivery and reliability of Telligence has the full support of GE, a technology leader in all of the diverse markets that it serves. Telligence installations are scheduled to begin in Q3 2006
The software being used on Telligence is an enhancement to applications that are already in common use in other facilities associated with ProCare 6000. This compatibility will allow facilities to take advantage of Dukane legacy systems and create an integrated nurse call network.
We hope the information presented above helps you appreciate Telligence as a groundbreaking next-generation communication platform, while also offering compatibility with legacy Dukane ProCare systems that might be installed in your facility – protecting your previous investment. GE looks forward to the opportunity to implement the facility benefits of Telligence at your facility. Contact your GE Security, Sound & Communications Strategic Partner for more information.
